More than one million people will be working in contact centers -- or call centers -- all over the country by the year 2022, according to the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP). At a recent press briefing, CCAP board chairman Benedict Hernandez, citing a study by research firm Frost & Sullivan, said the contact-center industry, a subsector of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, employed around 751,000 people in 2016 and is projected to employ up to 1.2 million people by 2022. The BPO industry, as a whole, employed 1.2 million people in 2016 and is projected to employ up to 1.9 million people by 2022.
| 2016 | 2022 | |
| Contact Centers | 751,000 | 1.2 million |
| BPO Industry | 1.2 million | 1.9 million |
In terms of revenue, contact centers are expected to earn about $20.4 billion in the next six years, accounting for more than half of the $38.9-billion total target of the entire BPO industry. Contact centers account for two-thirds of the revenue, employment and contracts generated by the BPO industry, Hernandez said.
Hernandez downplayed any negative effects of the perceived inward-looking or ‘America First’ policy of United States President Donald Trump. “Right now, in terms of direct impact to us, we have not really seen any material impact in the way our clients are working with us,” Hernandez said.
He added that the United States will continue to be country's top contact-center partner, and attributed this mainly to a growing demand from the healthcare industry. According to the Healthcare Information Management Association of the Philippines (HIMAP), healthcare information management (HIM) is the fastest growing sector in the local BPO industry, and is expected to generate $5 billion in earnings and 210,000 jobs by 2022.